He’s a doctor! He’s a ninja! And now, his earliest exploits are collected in one mighty omnibus volume! Featuring stories from the very beginnings of the Dr. McNinja webcomic, prepare for a hefty dose of science, action, and outrageous comedy. This omnibus presents more than five-hundred pages of hilarious strips, some of them long out of print.
If you read one book about an Irish ninja who became a doctor and fights zombies and Dracula, it should be this one, and not the other one, as it wasn't as good as this one.
Fun absurdist humor reminiscent of Bob Burden's Flaming Carrot, Shannon Wheeler's Too Much Coffee Man, or Steve Purcell's Sam and Max. Dr. McNinja works as a doctor, much to the disappointment of his family who are traditional ninjas. There are adventures involving zombies, velociraptors, Paul Bunyan's Disease and more. Ben Franklin has a recurring role. Ninja Dan, McNinja's father, has a most formidable mustache. It's good, silly fun. The writing is spot on with a great sense of timing. The art is passable, but improves over the course of the book, even showing a bit of a Steve Ditko influence toward the end. Recommended!
I don't know if I'd recommend this one to people, mostly because what I'd call "comic gore" shows up an average of at least once per chapter. (He's a ninja, and a doctor. Both situations can involve a lot of blood.) But the writing is zany and excellent, and I love it when writers can skillfully combine absurdist humor with some serious parts that have actual emotional effect. This is well-plotted and, as with most webcomics, the art style evolves quite nicely with time. I binge-read the whole thing online over the last week, and I'm sad it's over.
Some of the phrases don't age well but on the whole, it is a fantastical collection of comics starring a Doctor who is also a Ninja. Always remember - like Dan McNinja says - Ninjas can't catch you if you are on fire
NOTE: Most of the contents of this book is free on drmcninja.com
Doctor McNinja is a book/manga/graphicnovel/comic (whatever you want to call it) for fans of absurdist humor. Everything in it is over the top, ridiculous, and tries to outdo itself in action at every possible moment. It is absolutely hilarious. The first book in the series (or first three to 16, depending on how you count), the doctor McNinja Omnibus is not nearly as good as its successors, but is still excellent and a great place to start. I will not spoil anything, but the story features a near immortal ninja who runs a pediatric clinic in a haunted forest. He goes to get pizza with the resurrected Ben Franklin II, and winds up battling an army of druggie ninjas, zombies, and Dracula. If this sounds remotely amusing to you, then Dr. McNinja is for you. Every moment is more ostentatious then the last, and, weirdly, it works. By making a character who is basically undefinable, motivated almost solely by revenge (at first anyways), and winds up in the most insane situations possible, the author, Christopher Hastings, created a humor based in absurd situations and the characters apathy for the lives of others. In the original books, before McNinja became a true hero, almost all of the characters were willing to ignore murder, destruction, and every other crime as long it did not affect them. Normally, this would lead to a very dark humor, but the stupidity of the situations they are in (ie: fighting a giant ninja riding midget, or killing super drug ninjas) negate any sort of darkness that might arise from murder. Dr. McNinja is not for someone who wants a deep story or a dive into the despairs of reality. It is basically a more kid friendly version of Deadpool (which has at times been written by Hastings). Also, some of the action in the McNinja series is truly awesome at times. If you like Deadpool Gwenpool, Questionable Content, or any form of humor based solely on how ridiculous it can get, then McNinja is for you.
I read this on the Internet when I was just out of high school. I thought it was hilarious at the time, but was worried about how it might hold up when I picked this up. Pirate vs ninja humor wasn't even THAT funny at the time. Luckily, the jokes in this book are very rarely that surface level and I found myself laughing out loud somewhat regularly. It seems to get a little loose and maybe too weird to hold a story together around the last section, but I'm still glad I powered through it. The writing is funny, the art is solid, making this an all around fun comic to revisit.
A large volume containing the first couple of years of the web comic "Adventures of Dr. Mcninja." The comic features a doctor who's also a ninja, his ninja family, his secretary who happens to be a gorilla, a young boy with a huge mustache, and a clone of Benjamin Franklin. Brilliantly written and drawn, with off the wall humor and stories, I thought this was one of the funniest things I've ever read. If you have any interest in comics or goofy humor, this will be right up your alley.
This was one amazing read! My wife has tried to get me to read the comic online but I never am able to get around to it. Having it in print form, though, opened my eyes to the hilarity and awesomeness that is Dr. McNinja!
I'm really glad the first few volumes are now out in this omnibus, because I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed Dr. McNinja. I was great to be able to go back and reread it all.
Wacky almost past my personal breaking point. It is fun, but best in doses. Sustained reading can be a bit overwhelming. The art and jokes begin well and improve over the course of the story.